For purpose-driven brands, one of the best marketing tools to use today is a podcast. Podcasts are an excellent way to reach a brand’s target audience and deliver listeners in-depth information about the brand itself, its values, and actions. It has been surveyed that, in 2021, 57% of consumers above the age of 12 in the US have listened to at least one podcast.
We know starting a podcast might feel challenging but we’re here to convince you otherwise and help you to understand why a podcast is actually an excellent addition to your marketing strategy. In this article, we’ll be describing the ways how to create an impactful podcast for your purpose-driven brand in five steps.
What is a podcast?
According to Podcast Insights, the term Podcast is a portmanteau of iPod and Broadcast. Podcasts are audio programs made available online for listeners. Often, they are a series of audio episodes, diving into whatever topic the podcast is about. These episodes are used to deliver a message to the audience and to build a community of people sharing similar interests and values.
Podcast episodes are audio files that are stored with a podcast hosting website like Anchor. These websites help to distribute the podcast to different directories like Apple Podcasts or Spotify, where your audience can then listen to them.
The good news is that there aren’t really any predetermined factors about how a podcast should be and therefore, it is easy for anyone to start one. Nowadays, there are over two million podcasts and more than 48 million podcast episodes out there, started by individuals, companies, brands, radio stations, and others.
How to make an impactful podcast for your purpose-driven brand
Definite your purpose
Before starting your podcast, you must define its purpose. Why are you creating this podcast? What message do you want to deliver? Who is your audience? While thinking about these questions, it is good to listen to other podcasts like How To Save A Planet or Brands Saving the Planet to understand what type of podcast you want to create.
Get your tools in order
When you are starting with your podcast, do some research on different available podcast tools. Firstly, it is really important to have a really good microphone when recording your episodes so that your audio quality is high. This will be beneficial for both you and your audience as the audio is then more pleasant to listen. Second thing is to ask your guests to wear headphones if possible while recording. This will also guarantee better audio quality.
Soundtrap is an excellent online platform that allows you to create podcasts. Soundtrap has an interactive transcript feature that helps you to record and automatically transcribe your voice. You can also easily edit your recordings as you would edit a text document.
After you have recorded your podcast episode, you want to go ahead and find a suitable podcast hosting website such as Anchor that was mentioned earlier. Anchor and other hosting websites allow you to distribute your podcast to different platforms for your audience to easily find it and to discover useful analytics.
Prepare for every guest thoroughly
Whenever you invite someone to take part in your podcast as a guest, whether it’s a friend or a new acquaintance from the business world who you think could share valuable knowledge with your audience, make sure to prepare their visit. Do your research on them and their work, and prepare customized questions relevant to their background. These questions can be then used as a guide throughout the recording process.
Consistency
As it often is, consistency is the key when doing a podcast. It’s inevitable that some episodes will be a flop but when this happens it is important to keep providing your audience with new, fresh content. When moving forward, make sure to stay clear on your purpose and mission but to try out different types of guests and content as well. Also, ask your guests and audience to provide you with feedback to evolve.
If possible consider publishing your episode always at the same time, this will guarantee that your brand stays on the minds of your audience all week long as they’re waiting for the next episode to air.
Market your podcast
Marketing your podcast is an essential way to reach new listeners. If your brand has a community, try incorporating your podcast into this community. It is most ideal to have a podcast for a brand that is using social media, website pages, and email campaigns to keep users informed of new episodes and ways to get involved.
Benefits of podcast marketing
Impactful podcasts are valuable for consumers because they deliver important information and educational content for the listeners. These listeners often stay loyal to podcasts they like and which brings them some kind of value. This way, it is easy for brands to create a loyal community around the brand.
Podcasts can be an excellent tool to leverage your business. In addition, to help you create an audience around your brand, podcasts help you to drive traffic to your website and social channels.
One of the best things about having a podcast for your purpose-driven brand is that your audience will be able to listen to it anywhere, anytime.
As you can see, creating a podcast isn’t as challenging as you might think. Creating a series of impactful episodes does take time and research, however, it is worth it. A podcast is one of the greatest tools out there to help your purpose-driven brand to grow and share its message with your consumers. With the five steps mentioned above, it is easy for you to get started with your own podcast production.
Author: Oona Yletyinen